At your wit’s end? Try the teapot solution.
I subscribe to Dr. Charles Stanley’s monthly devotional magazine entitled “In Touch” because it always provides guidelines on dealing with everyday problems of the modern world. It never fails to deliver a daily dose of hope and faith that my multivitamin has never been able to achieve.
Today’s message was on worry and it reminded me that worry never added one thing to my life. He noted that prayer is the best antidote to this dreaded affliction which can shorten our lives and make them downright miserable.
I come from a long line of worriers on my mother’s side and the reminder was timely since I was worrying about five or ten different things this morning.
At the risk of getting “preachy” let me tell you how Dr. Stanley suggests we approach our worries. We sometimes hesitate to include the minor irritants of life in our prayers - saving up for the big ones, I guess. He suggested writing down our concerns (both big and small) and dropping them into a container and letting God handle them one by one.
As the day progresses and we begin to take back our worries, we simply remember they’ve been turned over to God and he’s handling it. “Not to worry, it’s in the teapot,” I remember. The relief is refreshing.
I began doing this months ago and let me tell you it works! I use an antique teapot, for which I’ve not been able to find another use. It has become my most treasured object, not for its appearance, but for its lifesaving function.
This morning I cleaned out my teapot and discarded 26 tiny wads of paper that each represented -in differing degrees- my pitiful daily problems. With the exception of four, every single one had been resolved - quite satisfactorily I might add. One of them I barely remembered. How dare I let such mundane things muddle my days!
For you intellectuals, this may seen way too simplistic, but you go ahead and worry if you insist. I may start carrying my teapot with me in case some new anxiety pops up while I’m on the road. You can never be too careful, you know.
If you’re interest in Dr. Stanley’s magazine, you may log onto www.intouch.org. It’s free and offers major returns for a small investment of time.
